Search

Research

Using over 50 thousand time-use diaries from two cohorts of children, we document significant gender differences in time allocation in the first 16 years in life. Relative to males, females spend more time on personal care, chores and educational activities and less time on physical and media related activities. These gender gaps in time allocation appear at very young ages and widen overtime.

Research

Citation: Reid A, Bowen AC, Brennan-Jones CG, Kuthubutheen JB. Congenital cytomegalovirus: the case for targeted infant screening in Australia. Med J

Research

Economic preferences may be shaped by exposure to sex hormones around birth. Prior studies of economic preferences and numerous other phenotypic characteristics use digit ratios (2D : 4D), a purported proxy for prenatal testosterone exposure, whose validity has recently been questioned. We use direct measures of neonatal sex hormones (testosterone and oestrogen), measured from umbilical cord blood (n = 200) to investigate their association with later-life economic preferences (risk preferences, competitiveness, time preferences and social preferences) in an Australian cohort (Raine Study Gen2).

Research

Video otoscopy plays an important role in improving access to ear health services. This study investigated the clinician-rated quality of video otoscopy recordings and still images, and compared their suitability for asynchronous diagnosis of middle-ear disease. Two hundred and eighty video otoscopy image-recording pairs were collected from 150 children (aged six months to 15 years) by an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, audiologists, and trained research assistants, and independently rated by an audiologist and ENT surgeon.

Research

The neighbourhood physical environment has a weak but significant association with early childhood development

Research

Studies have shown that stunting and wasting indicators are strongly correlated among children, with the potential of concurrently affecting their physical and cognitive development. However, the identification of subpopulations of children with varying risks of stunting and wasting could be valuable for targeted intervention.

Research

The number of words children produce (expressive vocabulary) and understand (receptive vocabulary) changes rapidly during early development, partially due to genetic factors. Here, we performed a meta-genome-wide association study of vocabulary acquisition and investigated polygenic overlap with literacy, cognition, developmental phenotypes, and neurodevelopmental conditions, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. 

Research

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) account for a significant proportion of sugar in the diet of children and are directly associated with obesity in this group. While there have been many studies on adolescent SSB consumption, few studies have examined the predictors of SSB consumption in primary-school-aged children. The aim of this study was to understand the degree to which a child's consumption across a range of beverages is influenced by their own attitudes and by their parents' attitudes and parents' consumption behaviours.

Research

Maternal educational attainment (MEA) shapes offspring health through multiple potential pathways. Differential DNA methylation may provide a mechanistic understanding of these long-term associations. We aimed to quantify the associations of MEA with offspring DNA methylation levels at birth, in childhood and in adolescence.

Research

Dental caries remains the most common chronic disease in childhood, affecting almost half of all children globally. Dental care and examination of children living in remote and rural areas is an ongoing challenge that has been compounded by COVID.